Jerome Flynn
| birth_place = Bromley, England | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Actor, singer | yearsactive = 1985–present | homepage = | spouse = | children = }} Jerome Patrick Flynn (born 16 March 1963) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series Soldier Soldier, Fireman Kenny 'Rambo' Baines in the pilot of London's Burning, Bronn in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, and Bennet Drake in Ripper Street. He and his Soldier Soldier co-star Robson Green also performed as Robson & Jerome in the later half of the 1990s. They released a version of "Unchained Melody", which stayed at number 1 for 7 weeks on the UK Chart, selling more than a million copies and becoming the best-selling single of 1995. The duo had two further number 1 singles: "I Believe" and "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted". Their eponymous debut album and the follow-up Take Two both reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. Early life Flynn was born in Bromley, Greater London, the son of actor and singer Eric Flynn, who was born on Hainan Island, and drama teacher Fern Flynn. He has a brother, actor Daniel Flynn, a sister; and a half-sister and a half-brother, musician and actor Johnny Flynn, from his father's second marriage. Jerome attended Wilderness school in Sevenoaks where he was an excellent rugby player. Career In 1986 Flynn appeared in the LWT television film London's Burning as firefighter Kenny "Rambo" Baines. When the film spawned a series of the same name in 1988, he was the only member of the main cast who was unable to reprise his role (aside from Gary McDonald, whose own character, Andreas "Ethnic" Lewis, was killed off in the film) due to previous commitments. Also in 1986 he played a minor role as the soldier "Franny" in "The Monocled Mutineer".In 1988 he played the character Freddie in the ITV drama; The Fear which was about the London underworld. He appeared as D.S Eddie Hargreaves for six episodes of the British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) winning police drama, Between The Lines between 1992 and 1994. Flynn portrayed Corporal Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series Soldier Soldier. The series began in 1990. He acted alongside Robson Green in the series. After Flynn and Green performed Unchained Melody on the programme, ITV was inundated by people looking to buy the song, and the pair were persuaded by record producer Simon Cowell to record it and release it as a single, a double A-side with White Cliffs of Dover. The single was released under the name Robson & Jerome and reached number one in the UK chart in 1995. It stayed at No.1 for 7 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, selling more than 1.9 million copies and making it the best-selling single of the year, and winning the duo the Music Week Awards in 1996 for best single and best album. The duo had two more number one hits in 1995 and 1996 with "I Believe" and "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" both re-makes of standards, they also produced two number one albums. Soldier Soldier ended in 1997. Flynn went on to star as Eddie Wallis (alongside singing partner Robson Green) in the comedy-drama Ain't Misbehavin' (1997), and was the star of the short-lived police show Badger in 1999. He played real life soccer player Bobby Charlton in the 1999 film '' Best. On stage, he played Tommy Cooper in ''Jus' Like That, a tribute to the comic magician written by John Fisher and directed by Simon Callow. Having semi-retired from acting and moved to Pembrokeshire, in 2007 Flynn directed and starred in the low budget film Rude Tales. The film was split into a series of short stories centered in the lead character, Jerome Rude, played by Flynn. The film was screened at a small number of independent cinemas in the Pembrokeshire area. After almost 10 years away from acting, in July 2010 it was confirmed that Flynn would be playing the role of Bronn in the HBO television series Game of Thrones, based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels of George R. R. Martin. Flynn provides the voice of Daniel (the hound) in the children's television show Tommy Zoom. He also appeared on the television programme So You Think You're Royal?, where it was established that through his mother he is a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell, through his son Henry Cromwell, and also a descendant of Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III of England. Flynn stars alongside Matthew Macfadyen in four series of Ripper Street for the BBC. In 2016, he appeared in "Shut Up and Dance", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror. In a 2019 interview, Flynn revealed that he'd been cast in Amazon Prime Video's upcoming series adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series in an unannounced role. Filmography Film Television Awards and nominations Personal life Vegetarian since the age of 18, Flynn is a patron of the Vegetarian Society. He has joined PETA in advocating for the vegan lifestyle."Jerome Flynn Urges People to Go Vegan," vegconomist.com, 11 January 2019. In December 2018, Flynn joined the board of directors of VeganNation , an Israeli-based vegan lifestyle project that aims to create an ‘international vegan economy based on a virtual currency, the VeganCoin.” Having taken childhood holidays in Pembrokeshire, Wales with his family, as a then follower of Ratu Bagus, Flynn and some friends moved to a Georgian house there in the late 1990s, where he still lives to this day. Flynn was in a relationship with Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey; rumours spread about the relationship ending on bad terms some time before March 2014, resulting in the couple being kept apart on-set. However, Flynn rebuffed the claims, stating he and Headey had worked in a scene together, adding "And the last time I saw Lena we were speaking, so I wouldn’t believe everything you read, and like I said, media can get pretty desperate for stories." He continued by calling Headey "…a wonderful person and a wonderful actress." References External links * Category:1963 births Category:English television actors Category:People from Bromley Category:Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama Category:Living people Category:English pop singers Category:20th-century English actors Category:21st-century English actors Category:English film actors Category:Musicians from Kent Category:Actors from Kent Category:Vegetarians